ManpowerGroup says U.S. companies that expand operations in regions where skills training is a strategic, long-term and collaborative effort endorsed by educators, government agencies and companies will have a critical advantage over competitors as the world's talent shortage intensifies in coming years.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics today reported that the overall November jobless rate was 7.7%, down from October's 7.9% rate. The U.S. private sector added 146,000 new jobs last month, while September's jobs figure was revised down from 148,000 to 132,000 and October was revised down from 171,000 to 138,000. Employment increased in retail trade, professional and business services, and health care — regardless of concerns that November's hurricane would curtail job growth.

"One catalyst behind recent job growth in some sectors is that U.S. companies are advancing their high-skill training initiatives, a critical step to creating the right pool of job candidates," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, ManpowerGroup Chairman and CEO. "These initiatives are often found in U.S. regions, which have developed advance training hubs that feed several growing industries. The most effective high-skill job training today is typically built and sustained by a collaborative public-private sector strategy."

For example, ManpowerGroup Solutions' Strategic Workforce Consulting business developed, with Competitive Wisconsin Inc. (CWI), a long-term workforce strategy for the state of Wisconsin that is focused on producing clusters of in-demand skilled workers. These clusters are designed to cross-train employees for various industries.

"Many jobs reshored to the United States are high-value-added that require extensive training," said ManpowerGroup President Jonas Prising. "This important trend will continue to grow in regions that have proactively aligned local educators' programming with employers' needs. Companies that can hire locally will hire locally."